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Monday, May 12, 2014

Evaluating the Promise and the Pitfalls of the EOBR/ELD Rules

As reported by FleetOwner: As the commentary period for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking regarding electronic logging devices
(ELDs) begins to wind down, trade groups, industry suppliers, and
others trying to analyses the potential promise and pitfalls not only of
such devices but the specific regulations governing their use.In meetings held during the 2014 Zonar Systems user conference in San Antonio, TX, last week, Fred Fakkema, the
company’s VP of compliance, cautioned that as things stand right now the
soonest FMCSA could issue a final rule regarding ELDs would be the
spring of 2015, meaning a final adoption deadline for the devices wouldn't be until the spring of 2017.“Once
a final rule is posted, that’s when the adoption clock starts,” he
explained. “But right now there’s a huge push on to extend the comment
period another 30 days past the May 18 deadline because this is just
such a huge rule; it is 268 pages long.”

One
sticking point in current deliberations regarding ELD operation is the
issue of “personal conveyance,” when a driver goes off duty but must use
his or her tractor to go home, travel to overnight parking, or get
something to eat.“Right now there’s no limit on personal conveyance,” Fakkema (seen at right)
said. “For example, if they drive from the terminal yard to dinner or a
movie, the device will not record that as on-duty drive time – as long
as they are not getting paid.” For authorized in-yard moves, such as
shifting a trailer between docks, that time would be recorded as
“on-duty not-driving,” he added.However,
other scenarios confuse that issue, such as if a driver uses his or her
tractor to go get lunch yet gets paid for that time. “That’s one of the
difficulties with this rule – it’s open to multiple interpretations,”
Fakkema explained.Another big issue
regarding ELDs – one that sank FMCSA’s first attempt to mandate them
three years ago – regards “driver harassment,” which Jack Van Steenburg,
FMCSA’s assistant administrator and chief safety officer, revolves
around preventing motor carriers from disrupting a driver’s off-duty
time via the device as well as giving drivers “ownership” of the hours
of service (HOS) information recoded by the devices.“The big key to this rulemaking are the anti-harassment provisions.” Steeburg explained at the Zonar conference.
“It mandates a ‘mute option’ for when the driver is in the sleeper
berth, establishes a compliant process and [harassment] penalties, and
gives drivers access to their own HOS records.”Yet
in an ironic twist, the proposed ELD regulations also require drivers
to provide paper documentation to back up their electronic records from
one of five categories: payroll data, schedules/itineraries, trip
records/bills of lading, expense receipts, or communication records.Rob
Abbott, VP-safety policy for the American Trucking Associations (ATA),
said many in the industry believe that documentation requirement is “too
broad,” though he stressed the trade group supports the overall
initiative to mandate ELDs as they will improve HOS compliance and thus
safety.Zonar’s Fakkema put it more bluntly: “Is it defeating the entire purpose of ELDs by requiring paper documentation?” he asked.ATA’s
Abbot said the trade group is also expressing concern over what he
called the four-year “grandfather period” being provided within the ELD
rule for carriers currently using electronic onboard recorders (EOBRs)
systems.“Is four years long enough?
Can older [EOBR] devices be upgraded with simple software to comply
with the new rules or will carriers need to switch over to new
technology?” he asked.Collin
Mooney, deputy executive director of the Commercial Vehicle Safety
Alliance (CVSA), expressed his group’s concern about the tamper
resistance of current ELD technology and whether the FMCSA’s “phase in”
approach allowing older EOBRs to be used alongside new ELDs could create
difficulties on the enforcement end of things.As
it stands now, FMCSA’s proposed ELD rulemaking would allow fleets using
“ELD-like” devices meeting current standards to keep using them until
two years after the final adoption deadline for ELDs, which would be
four years until after the final rule becomes effective, whenever that
may be.“But that ‘two plus two’
phase-in could create a situation where law enforcement may be reviewing
three different types of HOS recording systems – EOBRs, ELDs and paper
logbooks – for two years,” he said.Then there is the ongoing debate over the technical requirements for ELDs within the rule, stressed Zonar’s Fakkema.“FMCSA
is trying to get interoperability of ELDs into the rules, with standard
file formats to ease the exporting of data,” he said. “Basically, it’s
trying to get all the devices to play together.”The
difficulty is not only in harmonizing electronic HOS data but also how
to transfer it to law enforcement during roadside inspections. “Right
now in the rule, ELDs must be capable of transferring the driver’s log
electronically or by printing a paper record,” Fakkema explained.

During
roadside inspections, primary electronic information transfers can
occur one of three ways: by email, by wireless web service, or by
Bluetooth. Two backup transfer methods must also be available; one must
be law be a USB port, with the other either a scanable quick response “QR” code or by “bumping’ electronic devices together.“And
if you can’t show the logbook information in a ‘grid/graph’ format on
the ELD display screen then you must print it out,” he added.Fakkema
stressed, too, that there will be information delivery issues
regardless of the type of technology involved. “Take QR codes: you can
only load so much data into these, so will there be enough room to fit
all of the HOS information in one?” he said.Then
there are what he called the “malfunction” rules, which allow a driver
to revert to paper logs in case of an ELD failure for up to seven days –
though drivers can apply for a five day extension with the FMCSA. “An
ELD though must be repaired and back on line in eight days under the
rule,” he pointed out.That’s why
Fakkema believes the industry won’t see a final ELD rule for at least
another year. “We still have all those issues to get through, plus OMB
[the Office of Management and Budget] needs at least eight months to
sign off on it,” he said.

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About Me

I have more than 25 years of experience in development, design, and mobile communications products and technology. I also enjoy skiing, hiking, scuba, tennis, reading, traveling, foreign languages, and painting. I'm an active member of the National Ski Patrol (NSP) and volunteer my time at either Loveland Ski resort, or Ski Cooper.